Goldman Sachs To Celebrate Huge Quarter By Laying Off Employees

Last week Goldman Sachs blew away expectations for its third quarter earnings, reporting $8.17 billion in revenue. To commemorate all the money the bank made, it's cutting a bunch of employees, on top of all the ones it's already given the heave-ho this year.

Just one week after reporting its best quarter in more than a year, Goldman Sachs announced on Monday it will show 20 employees to the door — extending the bank’s deepest personnel cuts since the financial crisis. Lloyd Blankfein’s bank has laid off at least 486 employees in New York this year — the most since 2009, when it shed more than 900 workers, according to layoff notices filed with the state. This round is an extension of previous cuts, which affected all parts of the bank, including brokerage and securities divisions, a bank source told The Post.

People being the operative word here, as the statement "we're going to look for other means for efficiency" most certainly suggests plants may once again find themselves on the chopping block. After a year of cost-cutting that resulted in more than 2,400 job cuts, Goldman Sachs is satisfied with its staffing levels and doesn't intend to conduct more large layoffs. Chief Financial Officer David Viniar said the firm has "largely implemented our announced expense reductions" and is "relatively well-positioned, assuming the environment stays where it is." He was speaking on a conference call with analysts to discuss first-quarter earnings. "We're going to look for other means for efficiency," he said. "I wouldn't expect anything major to change from where we are." Goldman Sachs Ends Layoffs [FINS] Related: Layoffs Watch ’11: Goldman Sachs’ Philodendrons In The Line Of Fire